Growing Up
by Fluff Inc
Summary: With the intention of escaping, Tomoyo packs her bags and leaves to study for a semester in a foreign country. Is it luck, fate or just pure misfortune that she one day wakes up next to a certain powerful magician? You want to read this. R
1. Vintage

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_"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."_

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**Growing Up**_  
(Stories about age, withdrawal and nostalgia)_  
Written by Eina

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Summary: With the intention of escaping, Tomoyo packs her bags and leaves to study for a semester in a foreign country. Is it luck, fate or just pure misfortune that she unexpectedly crosses paths with an old friend? Srsly ExT.

A/N: I really wish I'm not hit by plotbunnies when I'm studying for midterms. _Sigh_.

-

I. Vintage

He doesn't even know how it happened. The last thing he remembers is him walking along by Robson and Granville, debating whether or not he was going to go do a little shopping. Next thing he knew, he was in bed.

(Well, that was a lie. It's not that he didn't remember; it was just that everything was blurry. He remembers bumping into someone that smelled oddly familiar. Being Eriol, he did what he always did when he meets a distracting beautiful woman: he asks her out for a drink. The drink, which at first was really a way to reconnect, turned into more. The random and not-so-accidental brushing of skin turned into something more as well.)

Enough about fuzzy details that didn't matter, he laughed. It was unbelievable who was in bed with him, he made sure it was her before confirming that it was her. He must've peered under the sheets, carefully, three times. (Each time noticing how lovely she smelled like and that it made him want to… well.) It was odd.

"Mmm…" the girl beside him moaned softly as she hugged the covers tightly. She's lovely, Eriol thought to himself. How come he never noticed her before? Perhaps it was because he was too busy creating incidents to make the card captor transform the Clow Cards. He was known to become too preoccupied with a task, after all.

"ERIOL-SAMA!" Eriol was quickly kicked out of his subconscious when Ruby-Moon kicked the door open. She was holding a tray with pancakes and orange juice. He appreciated the gesture, but certainly not today.

Nakuru tilted her head in curiosity, "Since when did you start sleeping without a shirt on?"

There really were no lines to be crossed in Nakuru's world. Eriol winced, "Recently?"

"Well no matter, I made you pancakes!"

"Thanks, but do you mind leaving it in the kitchen? I kind of want to get some more sleep," Eriol tried to remain as composed as ever. Don't show weakness.

"Nonsense! A growing boy needs his pancakes!" Sometimes, Eriol forgets how persistent Nakuru can be. Why did he not make her as uncaring and as displeased with the world like Yue is? She made a beeline towards Eriol's king-sized bed and noticed something rather peculiar. There was a shape lying beside Eriol.

She gave him a look: it had the smirk, the eyebrow movements, and the knowing nod.

He glared at her; glared like he never had in his life. This was the ultimate glare of glares.

"Hmm?" The shape beside Eriol rolled over, rubbed her eyes… and nearly died of shock (and perhaps of embarrassment?)

-

Spinel heard someone scream really loudly from the living room. He wasn't quite sure whose voice it was because Nakuru doesn't sound that feminine and Eriol was not female. As curious as he was, he really didn't want to figure it out. He was too busy watching this show about interior decorating. They needed his knowledge; their new apartment was screaming make-over.

-

After five minutes of yelling and blushing almost every shade of red possible and Nakuru apologizing repeatedly while giving Eriol _looks_, the pancakes were eaten.

"Sorry, I'll help you find your clothes in a bit," Eriol offered as he noticed that her eyes were quickly, albeit a bit panicked, surveying his room. He also noticed that there was this unbelievable amount of happiness in his belly and it was not from the pancakes.

"Hiiragizawa-san, are you alright?"

He blinked and stared at the familiar girl in front of him. _Oh she grew up_, Eriol smirked to himself as he carefully observed her from head to toe. She still had the grace of a ballerina, that interestingly pale skin and the ebony hair that contrasted it so. Her eyes were still as piercing and as knowing as ever, he added to his mental notebook.

She was staring at him, Eriol noticed. He had completely forgotten that she asked a question. Sometimes he forgot that he had the hormones of a young twenty year old male; hormones that were completely helpless when in the presence of a rather attractive female.

He smiled and nodded, "I'm a bit tired, Daidouji-san. I had an enjoyable night though, how about you?" Eriol had to admit; it was an interesting sight seeing the ever composed Tomoyo Daidouji blush all the shades of red known to man and some more. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," he apologized after noticing that she was genuinely embarrassed about the whole fiasco.

(He was just a bit curious as to why, but he can always ask her that some other time.)

"Nice shirt," she squeaked, trying to change the topic desperately. Eriol noted that his favourite shirt barely reached her thighs and smiled to himself. Oh to be young and be under the influence of alcohol.

(Eriol Hiiragizawa is a gentleman, of course. Noticing that Tomoyo Daidouji wanted to go retrieve her garments that were conveniently scattered all over his room, he offered her a shirt to cover herself in.)

"Thanks. It's vintage, Daidouji-san."

-

A/N: Oh dear, is this a multi-chaptered fic? You bet your pretty faces on it! Will this be continued? Well, I've been procrastinating a lot, so the answer for that is yes. Please review and tell me what you think about this teaser chapter!

(I promise there's a plot. Also, if you know where this fic is set, well go get yourself a cookie and give yourself a pat on the back. (: )


	2. Downtown

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_"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."_

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**Growing Up**  
(Stories about age, withdrawal and nostalgia)  
Written by Eina

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A/N: I do not own the following: the City of Vancouver (or Canada, for that matter) and Translink; Card Captor Sakura and any of its characters; HGTV and its cast mentioned; and anything else copyrighted and/or registered/trademarked that I might mention.

-

2. Downtown

Spinel sighed. He groaned and rolled around the couch as he watched some lady called Sarah Richardson talk about her bathroom fixtures. Much as he hated to admit it, the house was unbearably quiet when Nakuru and Eriol were out. Some days he felt like he was going to go crazy.

Some days, he completely forgets about the fact that he was alone and gets distracted with the different and colourful textures shown on television.

-

For Tomoyo, the bus ride downtown to school was one of her favourite parts of the day. She had gotten into the habit of people watching ever since she came to Vancouver; Tomoyo found it terribly amusing. Last week she saw a man pretending to be a golden statue but then whenever someone went too close to him he would move. It was odd, but she enjoyed watching him do the robot dance.

Some days she hated the bus rides, though. It reminded her of how foreign everything was and how foreign she felt in the country. It also reminded her of two months ago when she decided to pack her bags and leave for a semester. Her mother didn't understand at first but with much persuasion and reassurance that no, she wasn't going to come back with a husband and a kid (Tomoyo argued that this was physically impossible in the span of four months, but Sonomi Daidouji was incredulously stubborn) that she finally agreed.

Everyone thought that this was simply an impulsive move on Tomoyo's part but she had actually been planning this move for months now. Meilin had sent her a letter from Canada saying that she had moved there to study and Tomoyo immediately came up with a plan. Telling Sakura that she was going to be away for four months was perhaps the most difficult part of the whole ordeal. She remembered how sad she looked like and how she struggled to not cry in front of her.

Tomoyo nearly faltered when Sakura asked her to not leave, but she knew she had to do this. She knew she had to get away from everything that was going on and get a fresh perspective of life. She had also heard that moving away normally helps someone get over heartbreaks and what not. Out of sight and out of mind, as they say.

Unfortunately, Sakura made it a point to call at least three times a week to make sure that her best friend was still alive and all right. Tomoyo appreciated it, but some days she just wanted to be left alone. She was ultimately grateful for Meilin because she distracted the card captor when Tomoyo did not want to talk to her.

The bus rides also helped her come to a conclusion that all this thinking about Sakura, Tomoeda and the past gave her a migraine.

Why was it so hard to get over someone? She asked as she rested her cheek on the large bus window.

-

Eriol hated riding the bus. There was a reason he lived downtown, it was so he could just walk anywhere. He loathed the times he had to take the bus. All the inconsiderate people, the stench and just the fact that he absolutely abhorred being crammed into a moving vehicle made him very unsociable and unhappy.

As he made his way to the back of the bus, he saw something rather interesting. He saw a girl resting her face on the bus window. She was making faces, he thought, really annoyed ones. He smiled and decided to approach her.

"Good morning, Daidouji-san."

-

Tomoyo was fully aware that she was making faces at no one in particular; what she forgot was that there were other people on the bus with her. So when that deep voice acknowledged her in Japanese with a slightly unusual accent, she nearly fell off her seat.

"Hiiragizawa-san," she blinked, trying to regain composure. He was smiling at her, with that same polite smile he had tattooed on his face, but she also noticed that he was smiling rather amusedly.

"Nice to see you again," he nodded as he took the seat beside her. Tomoyo noticed that his perfume was a scent that made her nervous and happy at the same time. She clearly was going insane from thinking too much, she concluded.

Tomoyo sat up straight and composed herself. Really there was no reason for her to act awkwardly around him; he was a perfect gentleman to her after all. Never mind the fact that she woke up beside him one Sunday morning with Nakuru looking at her curiously. Oh god, never mind the fact that…

"You're blushing, Daidouji-san," she heard Eriol chuckle beside her.

"Oh am I? That's odd. How have you been, Hiiragizawa-san?" Tomoyo sighed as she tried to regain the composure she had just lost. Be polite, she pointedly thought.

-

Eriol was intensely enjoying this rather fortunate encounter with Tomoyo Daidouji. Not only was she as beautiful as ever, she was acting very unlike her. Gone was the Daidouji-san that was composed and calm. Eriol was pleased.

Game on.

-

"I'm quite alright," Eriol nodded as he, for some strange reason unknown to Tomoyo, started playing with her hair. "You kept it long, eh?"

Tomoyo blinked as she watched him take a strand of her hair around his fingers. Oh he was good, she thought grudgingly. "Yes I did, thanks for noticing Hiiragizawa-san."

"Please call me Eriol," he said with that same deep voice that startled her.

Tomoyo raised her brow and chuckled, "Have you always been this charming, _Hiiragizawa-san_?" She made sure to put an emphasis on his last name.

"I might have been. Is it working, _Tomoyo_?" He asked ever so nicely as he made sure to move closer to her and whisper her name in her ear. Completely ignoring the fact that they were in a public transport vehicle, he also nuzzled her neck and made sure to breathe heavily. He was not going to let this chance pass.

Tomoyo had to gulp to keep herself in control. What Eriol just did; whatever the hell that was made her feel weak and just a bit too happy. She didn't like it. She admitted mentally that Eriol was good at this and that she better not fall for it. Fortunately, she knew how to deal with persistent boys. She wasn't quite sure if she knew how to handle a very persistent, attractive, magical (literally) and ridiculously charming British boy.

He was smirking, Tomoyo observed as he kept doing whatever the hell he was doing to her neck. Clearly, he didn't care that they were in public. Very well, Tomoyo thought, she was not going to lose. She ever-so-gently turned to the side to face Eriol who was still doing odd things to her neck. She went for his ear and gently nibbled on it.

Eriol was pleased. It sounded odd and creepy, but he loved the scent of her. He also loved the fact that she was nibbling on his ear. He tried to contain himself, but he was enjoying this rather intimate albeit inappropriate moment between them. Slowly, but surely making his way up her neck, he tilted his head ever so carefully to kiss her. It was then when Eriol realized that he was making a kissy face to the clear bus window.

"Have a nice day, _Eriol-kun_," he didn't know how but she had managed to get away from him and walk towards the door without him noticing. She was smiling ever so sweetly at him as she gave a little wave and licked her lips.

She licked her lips, Eriol grudgingly thought as he tried not to punch the window or the nearest living being beside him. Oh it was so on.

Eriol was frustrated, _in more ways than one_.

-

A/N:

1. Just so we're all clear, making out in public is generally frowned upon. Doesn't stop people, but it's frowned upon. Contain yourselves and every_thing_ else until you get to your stop. Please.

2. This pet peeve of mine, of course, does not mean that I'm not going to write something insane like this. Horny!Eriol is so much fun to write, especially when Tomoyo outsmarts him. Poor hormonal magician boy.

3. Downtown Vancouver is normally where I'm at (when I'm not studying in Calgary, of course) so the story will most likely take place there.

4. Sarah Richardson is an HGTV celebrity that hosts various interior decorating shows and has a firm in Toronto.

5. There may be a slight plot between all of this, so expect a rather depressing chapter sometime soon. Knowing me of course, it probably won't be that depressing as I can only write fluff drizzled with innuendos and inappropriate things. Also, **updates will most likely be a weekly thing**. Perhaps. I intend on finish this, whatever the end will be. Paper season is coming soon so I'll try to write a lot before I have to slave away like the university student that I am. _Sigh._

6. **Please review**, I want to know what you think about the fic. Like honestly, I don't know if I should even upload more or just send random chapters to friends who read this. So yes, reviews please.

6. This is a long author's note.


	3. Friends

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_"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."_

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**Growing Up**  
(Stories about age, withdrawal and nostalgia)  
Written by Eina

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A/N: I hereby dub this chapter the chapter that has been rewritten way too many times for its own good. Also, the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) does not belong to me. I just like to bum around in Central Library because I'm cool like that.

-

3. Friends

There are a lot of things asked of good friends, Tomoyo realized as she mentally sang the English alphabet in her head. Good friends are expected to help friends move and carry their furniture; be the godparent to future offspring; be the maid of honour or bridesmaid at weddings and help plan weddings; let you cheat on your exam and/or help you study for your exam; go to classes you don't want to go to and if worse comes to worse, help you kill and bury someone. That seems like quite the burden for one person. Why do we have friend again?

"Did you find it?" A hushed voice belonging to her friend and roommate Li Meilin interrupted her musings about friendship. "I do not understand how the library organizes books!"

"It's quite simple, really," Tomoyo said absentmindedly as she concentrated on looking at call numbers of books.

Meilin sighed as she watched her friend mumble the alphabet repeatedly, "I owe you for this, Tomoyo!"

"Don't worry about it," Tomoyo smiled, "it's the least I can do for letting me stay at your place for free."

"I'm barely home anyways, so you know," Meilin laughed.

"Ah, I found them!" Tomoyo abruptly stood up, nearly knocking out Meilin who was standing behind her. For some reason, she always found the search for books to be exciting and greatly rewarding. Perhaps it was all thank to her childhood nanny who compared the meticulous search of books by their call numbers to finding that one person that'll make you the happiest. Tomoyo really never understood the analogy, though.

"Uhh," Meilin squeaked as she tried to balance herself, "I think we have enough books." Tomoyo blinked as she realized that she couldn't see Meilin's face anymore.

"Oops, sorry," Tomoyo apologized as she hurriedly grabbed a couple to help her friend.

"Ugh, it's going to take me forever to go through these books," Meilin groaned as she looked at the pile she was carrying with such disdain. Why did university students have to go through so much trouble just to show that they were learning? It was as if they were paying to be tortured by their professors! It's ridiculous, Meilin thought as she followed her friend to a nearest table.

"Ah, Tomoyo!"

-

"Eriol, I'm bored!" Nakuru pouted as she circled her master who was apparently busy looking for a certain book. "Why are we in the history floor?"

Sighing, Eriol rustled his hair and attempted to explain once more, "I had a dream that I should find a certain book in this floor of this certain library. Besides, didn't I promise that I was going to buy you a frozen yogurt after I find it?"

"Well yes, but I'm bored and Suppi's not here, so I'm even more bored!" Nakuru was now stomping her feet and was starting to resemble a really tall five-year old child. Sometimes Eriol wonders why he made Nakuru to be such an active and lively being; on some days he even thinks that he made a grave mistake.

"Five minutes," Eriol said curtly as went back to looking for a book spine that should be really familiar to him. Being the reincarnation of the magical Clow Reed, Eriol has gotten accustomed to having odd dreams. On most occasions, they were just silly dreams about things that Clow Reed did when he was younger, but then there are those special days when he gets premonitions.

"Okay!" Nakuru nodded as she jumped up and down. It wasn't easy being bored for someone like Nakuru.

"It's not in this aisle!" Eriol said annoyingly as he paced to go to the following aisle.

"Eriol-sama!"

-

For a second there, Eriol felt like he just got hit by a truck; not that he knew what that felt like, thank god, but this pain in his head felt like his brains just got scrambled. His back was also hurting too, what did he hit himself on? Why did he feel so old all of a sudden? He even heard some screeching noise hollering over him.

"Pay more attention to where you're going next time, mister!" Eriol finally made out the screeching noise to be the voice of a young, Chinese girl scolding him. Her eyes were familiar, he thought as he massaged a goose egg forming on his head.

"What the hell did I hit my head on?"

"My friend and my books!" The girl indignantly said as she picked up a book that was lying on his abdomen. He also then noticed a girl with long, black hair was massaging her neck. Just how did he hit that girl?

"ERIOL-SAMA! I AM SO, SO, SO, SO SORRY! SO, SO SORRY! I SAW THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BUMP INTO SOMEONE BUT THEN I DIDN'T SAY IT QUICKLY ENOUGH AND—"

Twitching at the rather high pitch voice Nakuru had, Eriol stood up and patted her on the shoulder. He was about to console the worried girl when they both heard a familiar voice, it was also the same voice that made Eriol a bit too happy.

"Nakuru-san?" they both turned their heads to the pale girl who was in front of them.

"AH TOMOYO-CHAN! I'M SO SORRY, WERE YOU THE ONE THAT ERIOL-SAMA BUMPED INTO? I'M SOORRRRYYYYY!" Nakuru wailed as she threw herself on Tomoyo, clutching the poor girl into a rather tight hug.

"Hey, tell your friend to be quiet! We're going to get kicked out of this library!" The Chinese girl that was scolding Eriol earlier and was now helping Tomoyo get up hissed. Eriol simply sighed. Sometimes, dealing with women can be such a pain.

"Nakuru, why don't you go run to the frozen yogurt place and get yourself something," Eriol said as he threw his debit card to her.

"REALLY? YAY!" Nakuru exclaimed as she then released Tomoyo from her bear hug and proceeded to give Eriol the same hug. "Have fun, Eriol-sama!" She whispered to him before she went running for the elevator.

Eriol simply smirked.

-

Tomoyo tried to stop the involuntary twitching her face muscles were making as she watched Nakuru run happily towards the elevator. Why did she keep seeing these two around Vancouver? It's not like it was a small city and there were certainly a lot of people here, so why did she keep running into Eriol Hiiragizawa of all people?

"Do you know those two?" Meilin asked her in a hushed voice. "That guy is kind of hot, a bit rude, but I guess he can get away with it, eh?" Now Tomoyo saw the sparkles in her friend's eyes.

"Yeah, don't even bother," Tomoyo groaned as she hurriedly pushed Meilin towards the other side of aisle. "Let's go, we have to write your paper!"

"What?" Meilin asked confusedly as she tried to stop Tomoyo from pushing her. "You're surprisingly strong, Tomoyo," she commented as she noticed how Tomoyo was easily pushing her away.

"Yeah, great stamina too," Eriol chirped in as he saw the two girls leaving. Oh there was no way he was going to let her leave without a payback from last week. No bloody way. "You're not leaving already are you? I haven't even apologized for rudely bumping into you!" he added as he made a pouty face that made Tomoyo twitch again. "My dear, you're twitching quite a lot."

"Yeah you are, Tomoyo," Meilin agreed as she watched her friend attempt to put on a very civil face. She didn't know who this boy was but it took special talent to unnerve Tomoyo Daidouji, Meilin thought to herself. "By the way, what did he mean by stamina, Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo gulped and looked at her friend wide-eyed. She has conveniently forgotten to tell Meilin the events of the past few weeks, especially the ones concerning this boy; this darned yet charming boy that was standing in front of her. Why was he smirking like he owned the world? Why did she think that looked attractive on him? At this point, Tomoyo deduced that she must've had a concussion to be even thinking these thoughts.

"You're blushing," Meilin added. Tomoyo then recognized the look on her friend's face and she didn't like it. "Ah, _that_ kind of stamina," Meilin laughed as she gave her friend a pat on the shoulder.

"I don't know why she always acts all embarrassed about it," Eriol shrugged as he walked over towards the two girls. Tomoyo felt uneasy and rather weak on the knees, what was going on? She also knew that Eriol knew what he makes her feel. Stupid magicians. "It was great—"

Tomoyo hurriedly cleared her throat, making sure to interrupt Eriol at the right time while steadily avoiding Meilin's stare. It was useless though, she was sure that her friend was going to interrogate her tonight. She also envisioned that this interrogation would be complete with the swinging, hanging light, a steel table and a cup of water and dimmed lights.

"Really Hiiragizawa-kun, you don't need to apologize! I feel fine, you might want to take care of yourself, you are getting old," Tomoyo smiled while she resumed to dragging Meilin to be very far away from him.

"I'm Meilin by the way!" Meilin yelled and gave a little wave to Eriol. "Why are you running away? You two seem like you've known each other way before whenever you two slept together," she giggled, clearly amused with Tomoyo's bright red face. "Ah, I was right."

"You always are, Meilin-chan," Tomoyo sighed, still dragging her friend. Perhaps it was because she was too busy dragging Meilin that she didn't realize Eriol pull on her arm. She only realized this when she was in close (very close) proximity to the very man she was trying to get away from.

"I don't know what I did, Daidouji-san," Eriol said with a raspy voice as he buried himself in her hair, "but I would very much like it if you didn't run away from me."

Tomoyo gulped, she didn't know what Eriol smiled like but it was drawing her in, why did she always feel this way around him? She's only been around him three times (Tomoyo keeps a count, of course) but she couldn't run away when she was so close to him. "I believe I wouldn't be running away quite as much if you simply stop trying to grope me in public, Hiiragizawa-kun," she said as she yanked his hand away from where it wasn't supposed to be.

"Forgive me, I seem to not be able to keep my hands off you," Eriol smirked as he now caressed her face.

"Cheesy," Tomoyo laughed. What was with him anyways? Her only memories of him from her childhood were of an odd magician boy from England who always looked over her best friend. She also remembered him having something with her teacher Kaho—

It was also then when Tomoyo realized that she really shouldn't be pondering so much, especially if she was in the arms of said magician boy. In the midst of her musing, Eriol Hiiragizawa had leaned over and kissed her. For some reason, Tomoyo found herself kissing him back.

"You know, as cute as this is, I think you two should get a room," Meilin cleared her throat as she watched her friend kiss a rather attractive boy.

At this Tomoyo quickly pushed Eriol away and glared at him. How did he even manage to grab her and kiss her? Eriol simply laughed at her and extended his hand towards Meilin, "Eriol Hiiragizawa, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss?"

"Li Meilin," Meilin smiled as she shook his head. "Well Eriol, I have a feeling we'll be good friends. We live in that blue building a couple of blocks from the library, feel free to drop by and visit Tomoyo. My name's on the door bell."

He had to admit that he was quite surprised but rather happy at the information given to him. Eriol was also way too aware of the glares that Tomoyo was giving him so he grabbed her once again and gave her a hug. "I have to go meet Nakuru now before she spends all my money. Don't bump into anyone else again, Tomoyo-chan!" Then Eriol ran away.

"He wants you," Meilin laughed as she observed her friend who wasn't sure what to do. Even though she hasn't seen Tomoyo ever since she left Tomoeda, Meilin knew exactly what was going on in her head. "Not bad though, you guys look cute together. I'm sure you guys will make really cute babies! Oh my god can I be the godmother?"

Tomoyo twitched at the mention of the word 'babies' and glared at Meilin. "Meilin, I think it's going to be more beneficial for you if you write your own essay," Tomoyo said as she tried to compose herself.

"No worries, I wouldn't want to take away from your sexy time with Eriol Hiiragizawa-kun," Meilin laughed as she nudged her friend jokingly. "Come on, what better way to cure a broken heart? So, is he any good?"

At this point, Tomoyo just gave up glaring at her. Meilin was probably going to tease her all the way home and perhaps continue asking her about him. On some days, Tomoyo wonders why she even has friends.

-

A/N: Sorry for the delay to the whole "I will update weekly!" promise thing! I had a Geography midterm for today (Monday, the 8th) so I had to study for that. But hopefully this was enjoyable! Thank you so much for the reviews! Please feel free to tell me what you think about this chapter.


	4. Duvet

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_"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."_

-

**Growing Up**  
(Stories about age, withdrawal and nostalgia)  
Written by Eina

-

Warning/Note: I don't really know what kind of warning this should be since there's been mentions of sex from the first chapter. Hm, random boob groping, horny twenty-year olds, emo breakdown, spooning and a very comfortable bed? Yes, that'll do. Also, very differently written chapter… IDK.

-

4. Duvet

Tonight was the last night before the term paper from hell was due which meant that after three days of barely sleeping, Tomoyo would get the chance to regain her life again. Why did going to university feel like you were slowly killing yourself? It wasn't that Tomoyo didn't enjoy learning, because she did, but when professors decide to stack deadlines on top each other life just gets unbearable.

"I should probably call my mother," Tomoyo yawned and stretched her arms as she looked at the clock. Three o'clock in the morning, if she slept now she'd be getting an hour more sleep.

Tomoyo sighed as she watched her printer slowly but surely print all of the nine pages that she needed. It made such a weird and obnoxious noise, but Tomoyo found it calming. She's been in such a weird mood lately, even Meilin commented on it. Of course her friend didn't fail to make jokes about her being over tired and that she should control Eriol-kun.

Laughing, Tomoyo jumped on her bed and felt the soft duvet her mother ordered for her. What a coincidence really, meeting him halfway across the world. She should really tell Sakura about this.

Beeep, beeeep.

Tomoyo sat up abruptly as she looked for the source of the weird beeping noise. She knew it was her cellphone, but she always forgets where she puts it. Spotting it to be by her bedside table, she immediately grabbed it and found a text message from someone unexpected.

"Talk about the devil," Tomoyo sighed and rolled her eyes as she pressed "view" to see Eriol's message. How did he even get her number? From Meilin? Most definitely. "I really need to find better friends," Tomoyo said jokingly.

_Go to bed, darling. Eriol._ Tomoyo stared at the message as she read it repeatedly in her head. The first thought in her head was as to how did Eriol even know she was up? Then she remembered that he was perhaps watching her as she sat in her bed, dumbfounded. Then another more violent thought came, and it was something along the lines of "stop watching me, you pervert."

_I am in bed, Hiiragizawa-kun. I think you should be sleeping as well, though. It's late._ Tomoyo hurriedly texted him back. She was a bit curious as to why he was still awake. Perhaps reincarnated magicians have insomnia as a side-effect?

Immediately, her phone began vibrating violently to let her know that she had a new message. It was from Eriol again. Sighing, Tomoyo realized that maybe talking to Hiiragizawa-kun was a bad idea. _I can't sleep. Mind letting me in? I'm in the foyer of your building._ Did he just assume that she was going to let him in? For a split second, Tomoyo decided to just let him rot in the foyer; then again, she just couldn't let him stay down there all by himself. Damn her good upbringing!

-

Eriol sighed as he took a seat on the hard bench. He didn't even know what possessed him to ask Tomoyo to let him in and he knew that she probably wouldn't. What normal human being would even entertain a guest at this time of night?

He hated days like these, days when his thoughts wouldn't let him rest. Usually he would walk it all out, tiring himself so he would just pass out as soon as he got home. This tactic hasn't been working and he's been finding himself walking by the building where Tomoyo and Meilin lived. It was quite a walk from where he lived, but his feet always dragged him there.

He was about to leave the building when he heard the elevator ring.

"After you've gotten me out of bed, you're going to leave?" He heard that familiar gentle voice come from that elevator. It amused him that even thought she tried to sound snarky, it didn't work.

Eriol laughed, "You're quite the feisty one, aren't you Daidouji-san?" She gave him a smile that he thought was quite lovely. "You look like death," Eriol said as he examined her face in his hands as soon as he got into the elevator. "What floor?"

"Four," Tomoyo sighed as she jerked his hand away from her face. "Don't start now," she warned him

"My apologies," Eriol smiled as he took a step back from her. "You're phone's vibrating."

"It's just Sakura," Tomoyo said dismissively.

"Just Sakura?" Eriol was surprised when he heard the girl say that, what happened to being almost sisters? "Wow Daidouji-san, did anything happen? Is this perhaps the reason why you moved to Vancouver?" It was an innocent question, but when Eriol saw the expression on Tomoyo's face change drastically, he wished he had just remained silent. "Sorry."

She smiled and shook her head, that smiling and cool face back on, "Nothing to apologize for, Hiiragizawa-san. And no, it's just that I feel like I don't have energy to talk to Sakura-chan right now."

Curious, Eriol pursued the conversation, "Yet you still managed to pick me up and bring me to your place? I mean, if you have the energy to deal with me and with the things that may happen later when we get back to your place, why can't you talk to her?"

Rolling her eyes, Tomoyo laughed, "The only thing that's going to happen upstairs is me brewing you tea and you accepting it politely."

"Sure, is that we're calling it now?" Eriol smiled as casually caressed her face.

"I feel that I need to be away from Sakura-chan for a while, you know, to reassess our friendship, so to speak," Tomoyo smiled as she walked ahead of him.

Eriol sighed as he followed the girl who was now opening a door at the end of the hallway. He wondered what happened between the two girls. Perhaps she was also running away from disappointment like he was from a broken heart.

"Hey," he called out to Tomoyo who was halfway in the door.

"Don't tell me you're too much of a gentleman to come in my house, Hiiragizawa-kun," Tomoyo laughed, her back still facing him.

"I think it's too late for that, but are you okay?" Eriol had enough intuition to know when something wasn't right. Tomoyo Daidouji may think that if she was subtle enough, no one was going to notice her sadness, but he wasn't like everyone else. "Tomoyo," he added when she didn't respond.

-

Tomoyo gulped, trying to suppress all the tears that were threatening to come out. Why was Eriol so pushy? Couldn't he just try to pretend that he didn't notice anything and accept the hospitality?

"What kind of tea do you want?" She asked, trying to muster up a smile.

"Earl grey, please," Eriol said as he stared at her. Tomoyo didn't mind people staring at her; she did perform, after all. Eriol's gaze was different though. It was as if he was reading into her and knew about every single secret she kept from the world. Perhaps this was also her imagination; she hasn't been sleeping very much, anyway.

Without much thought, Eriol grabbed the girl towards him and kissed her. It was a different kind of kiss, Tomoyo realized as she tried to regain her footing from the sudden action. It was rough, it was pained yet Eriol was holding her gently in the waist. He was kissing her with all his might now, roughly canvassing her mouth with her tongue. He heard her repressed moans and was pleased but stopped when he felt her quiver, "I'm sorry," he apologized.

"No, don't stop," Tomoyo whispered as she kissed him again, slowly walking him towards her room. She could feel his warm hands around her waist and slowly going upwards to her breasts. It always amused her how eager men were when they knew they were getting something tonight.

It wasn't for long when Eriol found himself laying on top of a really soft duvet with Tomoyo kissing him madly on top of him. With skill, he immediately rolled Tomoyo over so that she was under him. She gave him a reprimanding tsk, but he simply smirked and lowered his face onto her neck. There was something about this girl that drove him crazy and he wished to find out what it was.

"Your phone's still vibrating," Eriol said with an annoyed voice as he stopped and looked over to the phone that was dancing on her nightstand.

"Ignore it," Tomoyo said, equally as annoyed as she wrapped her legs around him.

"You're eager tonight," Eriol smirked.

"I need to relieve stress, Hiiragizawa-san," she said irritably.

"I believe that's still Sakura-san, you really need to talk to her, she's your best friend, after all."

"Why does it matter?" Tomoyo asked with a brow raised. By now they have disentangled themselves from each other and were sitting face to face. "Sakura-chan keeps on saying she misses me, but I know she's just fine in Tomoeda with Li-kun and her happy life. She doesn't need me and besides—"

Eriol laughed and shook his head with disbelief, "Daidouji-san, I'm a bit disheartened to think that this angst of yours is the reason you're letting me bed you tonight."

Tomoyo raised a brow at him as she buttoned her shirts up, "What happened to Mizuki-sensei?" There was no point in dilly-dallying now that she told him what her problem was, he might as well tell her his.

"We broke up," Eriol shrugged and dove for the right side of the bed. "I've decided to sleep here. Want to spoon?" He asked as he suggestively waggled her eyebrows.

"I have to go to school in two hours," Tomoyo said as a-matter-of-factly. "Get out of my bed, sleep on the floor!" She said as she attempted to kick the boy off her queen-sized bed.

Eriol was now laughing maniacally as he, with very little force, pulled her over him and gave her forehead a kiss. "Geez, just shut up and spoon me."

With this Eriol pulled her beside him on the bed and wrapped his body around hers. Tomoyo was going to fight back but as soon as her head hit the pillow, she felt the familiar sense of sleepiness surround her. Even in her half-awake state, Tomoyo felt the gentleness that surrounded Eriol. It felt all too foreign for her. What did he want from her?

"For goodness sake's Tomoyo, please," she heard Eriol groan, feeling his warm break on the back of her neck, "stop pondering, I can hear everything you think about. And I want your body, okay? Can we please sleep now?"

"Geez," Tomoyo laughed as she made herself comfortable between a pillow and the boy that refused to leave her bed. "You're cranky."

-

Meilin blinked repeatedly, hoping that if she did this enough times that breakfast would magically appear in front of her. The continuous growling of her stomach only supported the fact that this was not going to happen. This was one of those days when she wished that she had the magical abilities of her darling cousin. Imagine the power of being able to conjure up your own food with the snap of a finger.

Sighing, she patted her stomach that kept growling. Where was Tomoyo and why didn't she cook breakfast?

"Tomoyo! Where are you? I want bacon!" Meilin wailed as she plopped on their couch and turned the TV on.

-

"Your charge is hungry."

"What?"

"Meilin, she's hungry."

"Go cook her breakfast, then."

"I think she wants you."

"Jesus Christ, Hiiragizawa!" She really didn't want to wake up but the incessant bulge that was pressing on her, well, surprised her.

"Morning, Daidouji-san," Eriol yawned lazily as he watched the girl jump out of bed and shoot him a rather deadly glare.

"Fuck, I have to go to class, paper, shit," Tomoyo said as she hopped around her room, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a decent-looking knitted sweater.

"Have fun at school, love," Eriol laughed, quite amused at the sight of the Tomoyo Daidouji cussing.

"Show yourself out, Hiiragizawa," Tomoyo irritably groaned as she shut her door.

Oh Meilin is going to have a field day, Tomoyo sighed as she faced her starving friend. The smirk on her face was very noticeable and Tomoyo being Tomoyo simply gave her friend a great big smile and greeted her good morning.

Snickering, Meilin nodded, "Oh, I'm sure it is."

"No bacon for you," Tomoyo curtly replied.

"WHAT? UNFAIR!" Meilin, flabbergasted jumped out of the couch and chased Tomoyo.

"School, now, please," Tomoyo laughed as she quickly ran out the door. Perhaps all that running from Sakura's Card Captor days did do her some good.

-

A/N: Hi, anyone still reading? I hope I didn't turn anyone away. This chapter had to be written! Please tell me what you thought about it! Thanks! Oh also, sorry for this really late update. I probably won't be able to update till the first of April, so sorry! I have three papers due in the next three weeks, a Canadian citizenship test in between, work, and random assignments. So, I'm afraid I won't be able to think about this fic. I'm quite disappointed that my schedule turned out this way. Sorry!


	5. Pancakes

_"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional."_

**Growing Up**  
(Stories about age, withdrawal and nostalgia)  
Written by Eina

A/N: What is up with deleting my dashes? Damn. Also, apologies for the lateness of the update, was uninspired and all that jazz. Thank Jack Johnson and the howling winds, though. (This chapter has been rewritten _way_ too many times).

* * *

05. Pancakes

What was that nagging pain? It definitely felt like someone was drilling a hole in her skull with a jackhammer. Boy, those migraine relief TV commercials weren't exaggerating. Pancakes? Tomoyo attempted to sniff around but as soon as she lifted her head up, she realized that she couldn't.

"You shouldn't try to move around," a male voice reprimanded her. "Good morning darling, I made pancakes and bacon." Eriol sat beside Toyo on her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," Tomoyo said groggily. "What are you doing here, Hiiragizawa?"

"Oh, well Meilin couldn't find you last night so I helped her look for you. We found you passed out on some bus stop in Burnaby and uh, you didn't tell her who I was?" Eriol let out a nervous laugh as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind Tomoyo's ear. "You know, the whole Clow Reed thing?"

"Oh," Tomoyo nodded in realization. "I must have forgotten; besides Meilin and I have other things to talk about. Why? What did you do, Hiiragizawa?"

"I just kind of stopped the rain, nothing big," Eriol laughed as he gave Tomoyo a kiss on her forehead. "I'll go bring in your breakfast."

"Hold on, you still haven't told me why you're here," Tomoyo called out.

Eriol stopped and leaned on the doorway, "Well, Meilin has exams this whole week so I volunteered to nurse you back to health." Had he not wagged his eyebrows suggestively, Tomoyo would've thought that Eriol was completely sincere.

"Dammit Meilin," Tomoyo muttered under her breath.

* * *

Meilin fidgeted in her seat as she stared at the instructions for her exam. It was simple enough really, but she was expected to handwrite two essays in two hours? What is this insanity? It's like the world was punishing her for something!

* * *

Tomoyo watched Eriol carefully as he cut the pancakes in smaller pieces and poured maple syrup all over it. She insisted that she could do it by herself but Eriol just laughed at her and said something about being a gentleman. It might be the medications talking, but Tomoyo felt happy to have someone take care of her. It was certainly different from having one of the maids in the Daidouji Manor take care of her. This seemed to be a little more sincere... although Hiiragizawa didn't really need to touch her as much.

"You know if you keep giving me those little kisses, you're going to get sick yourself," Tomoyo smiled at him as she took a bite of the breakfast Eriol cooked for her. "Hmm, not bad, Hiiragizawa."

"Not bad?" Eriol scoffed. In reality though, he knew he wasn't as good as Tomoyo was when it came to cooking. Still, it hurt his ego a bit when she wasn't impressed. "Are you saying you could do better?"

"Oh I definitely could. You should come over some time and I'll cook you breakfast." Tomoyo laughed and then added, "You know, as a thank you for taking care of me."

"I'll hold you to that," Eriol laughed.

"Did you also take care of Mizuki-sensei when she was sick?" Tomoyo asked as she watched Eriol eat some of her breakfast as well. Despite her many attempts of telling him that he was going to get infected, he just shrugged it off and told her there was nothing his magic couldn't heal. Pretentious magician, Tomoyo thought bitterly.

"Why do you ask?" Eriol sighed.

"No reason, don't worry about it, it was completely random," Tomoyo shook her head. It was easy to see that Eriol didn't like to talk about her; in fact, one could assume that Eriol would rather just forget about her completely. It was sad because everyone thought they were going to end up married someday. "I'm sorry—"

"No don't be," Eriol laughed bitterly. In a swift motion, he was immediately crouched on top of Tomoyo. Of course he found this funny, but Tomoyo gave him a reprimanding look. Afraid that she might kick him where it hurts, he settled to lying beside her on her bed. "I like your bed, it's comfortable."

"Me too, but I prefer being on my bed alone," Tomoyo stuck her tongue out.

"I miss it," Eriol said, reminiscing the days he shared with Kaho. He tried not to think about those days because, as Spinel put it, he tends to brood. "I miss waking up to someone in the morning, I miss having someone to laugh with, I miss having intellectual debates that didn't end up in me losing all the time because Spinel always has to be right. I miss her," he sighed as he played with Tomoyo's long, black hair. She had her back against him because she remained sitting while Eriol rolled around in her bed.

"I've never had that," Tomoyo sighed as she leaned her face on her hands. She's never had that but she assumed that Sakura had that with Li. Tomoyo was never one for denying what she really felt and she knew that she was lonely and jealous. She had given up her Sakura to be with Li, the boy Sakura loves more than life itself. She was jealous because she wanted Sakura to be happy with her like that, but obviously that was never going to happen. She was lonely because Tomoyo wasn't too keen on opening herself up to someone else, again.

"Tomoyo," Eriol had now made his way to nuzzling the nape of her neck. "You shouldn't just burn bridges with Sakura, she's still your best friend. I'll be the one you wake up to and I'll make you laugh and all that..."

"Don't be silly, Hiiragizawa," Tomoyo said as she bit her lip, trying to stifle a moan. Slowly but surely, Eriol made his way to her lips. "Are we forgetting I'm sick?"

"I could care less, darling," Eriol groaned as he continued to kiss her eagerly.

* * *

Meilin bit the chocolate bar on her hand angrily as she walked to their apartment. She hated finals. What was the point of making them write two essays in one test and having a really confusing multiple choice exam on another test? Surely the teachers don't enjoy marking all of these exams, it must be torture.

"Oooh pancakes," Meilin was pleasantly surprised to smell the lovely aroma of buttermilk pancakes and maple syrup. "Eriol must've cooked them today. Awesome, exactly what I—"

Meilin's happy breakfast dinner was abruptly interrupted when she heard curious sounds coming from Tomoyo's door. They weren't loud or creaky noises, she just didn't want to hear any of them. "Ugh, I need to find a man," Meilin sighed as she heated the pancakes inside the microwave.

"Driiiiiiing..."

* * *

"That's odd," Meilin said to herself as she heard their doorbell ring. Normally, people just knocked on their door or just walked straight right in. Meilin sighed as she dragged herself to open the door. A part of her was wishing that it was someone selling something so she could just yell at someone to release all this pent-up frustration.

"MEILIN-CHAN!"

"Uh... Sakura?"

* * *

A/N: SORRY FOR THE DELAY. Really, really sorry! I know this is a lazy chapter but I've wanted to do something like this. Really sorry haha!


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